Shade-roller fixture



(No Model.) v

H. WqSIMMS. SHADE ROLLER FIXTURE.

No. 420,417.- Patented Jan. 28, 1890.

.UNITED STATES v PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY WV. SIMMS, OFLBAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

SHADE-ROLLER FiXTU RE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 420,417, dated January28, 1890.

Application filed December 3, 1888., Serial No. 292,487. (No model.) y

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. SIMMs, acitizen of the United States,residing at Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Shade-Roller Fixtures;andI do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichitappertains-to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

The first portion of my invention relates to the supporting and lockingdevices used in th at class of shade-iixtures in which an inclosedactuating-spring furnishes the power for properly revolving the rollerfor raising the shade, and pertains especially to that class ofsupporting devices which` has a slotted bracket and a lifting-springforcarrying the roller and for placing the parts in a proper position forlocking; and this part of the invention relates particularly toimprovements on the device set forth in Letters Patent of the UnitedStatesq granted to me July 20, 1886, No. 345,812, and is withdrawn fromthe application filed by me on June 19, 1888, Serial No. 27 7,541 andthe second portion of my invention relates to devices for properlysupporting' the coils of the actuating-spring in relation to each other,whereby a freer and more uniform operation of the spring upon the rolleris provided and the trouble of kinking or interlocking the overlappedcoils which takes place when the springis entirely wound up or given itsfull tension is avoided; also, in shade-fixtures of the class mentioned,as commonly constructed great trouble and annoyance are caused by thepawl or catch slipping from one notch to another on the ratchet, theimpact of the revolving roller and ratchet-wheel against the catchcausing the lifting-spring to recede slightly and permit the catch topass over several notches with a rattling noise, and this action of theparts also allows the roller to wind up or lift more of the shade thanis intended when the shade 5o is released by the operator before thepawl is securely engaged with the teeth of the rachet; and a further object of my invention is to provide devicesr for locking the roller in any desired position readily and positively and without noise or rattling,whereby the shade may be lifted to any desired position and thereretained after being released without liability of being raised abovethe height intended byafurther movement of the roller.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1therein being a front view of one end of a shade-roller supported by myinvention in position with the roller locked. Fig. 2 is an end view ofthe same.- Fig. 3 is a view of the inside of the bracket shown in Fig.2. Fig. 4 is the same as Fig. 1, with the roller unlocked for winding`the shade thereon. Fig. 5 is the same as Fig. 2, partly sectional andshowing the locking device in a modilied form. Fig. 6 is a view of theoppositel side of the bracket shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a longitudinalsection of the opposite end of the roller and of the actuating-springdevice for sustaining the spring. Fig. 8 is a sect-ion taken ata1 inFig. 7, looking to the left.

Similar letters indicate the same parts throughout the several views.

a is the shade-roller, and upon one end of the roller is secured an endpiece a, which, for convenience, is provided Wit-h a flange which titsover the end of the roller, and-b is a roller-journal, which projectsfrom the center of the end piece.

c c are lugs, which project outwardly from the end piece or the end ofthe roller and are preferably located between the journal and theperiphery of the end piece.

d is a supporting-bracket provided with a vertical slot c, in whichrests the roller-journal b, and which is lifted to and retained inposition in the upper portion of the slot by a lifting-spring f,suitably secured upon the inner side of the bracket d. Upon the .portionofl the bracket d which extends upwardly above the slot e is a lug orclutch g, arranged to project toward the roller and in -a suitableposition to allow the lugs c to catch uponV or engage therewith when thejournal is in the upper portion of the slot e,

IOO

as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, and to permit the lugs to pass withoutengagement therewith when the roller-journal is held in the lowerportion of the slot, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The lug or clutch gis shown in the illustrations as arranged with acurved or concaved upper side h, the contour of the curve or concavebeing so formed as to bring the forward portion thereof in front of thelug c, and also to reach the rear portion thereof beneath the lug as theroller is revolved by the actuating-spring while the roller-journal isin the upper portion of the slot, and the lug, being caught in thismanner, at once stops the revolution of the roller, and at the same timeretains the journal in the upper portion of the slot until the roller isrevolved backward, which movement instantly releases the lug fromengagement with the clutch g. The result of this arrangement andconstruction is that when the lug c is thrown into engagement with thelug g with great force it is there retained in a positive and suremanner, which avoids a tendency and liability of the roller journal bmoving downward in the slot e, from the action of the jarring and recoilof the engagement upon the lifting-spring and allowing the lugs to passbeneath the clutching device g with a jarring and rattling noise, anaction frequently obtained when the lug c is caught upon its sideportion, instead of beneath, as in the device herein shown. The oppositeend of the roller, as shown in Fig.'7, is provided with a cap-piecesecured to the end of the roller a, and d is a spindle passed throughthe center of the cap-piece and extending longitudinally through achamber e, which is provided in the end of the roller, and also projectsinto a suitable step or bearing o', which is centrally located in theinner end of the chamber to retain the spindle in position, while theouter end of the spindle is provided with a journal f to engage with thebracket b and support the roller, and also to retain the spindle againstrevolution when the roller is revolved for manipulating the shadewhichis secured thereon in the usual manner.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, g is a spring coiled around the spindle dwithin the chamber e in the usual manner, beginning with an inner seriesof coils h', which are coiled about the spindle from the inner endportion thereof outwardly, and continuing with an intermediate series ofcoils 1l', which are coiled about the inner series 7?/ from the outerend of the series inwardly, and continuing with an outer series of coilsj', which are wound over the intermediate series t" from the innerportion thereof to the outer, the three series being formed of onecontinuous wire. One end k of the wire at the beginning of the series 7Lis secured to the spindle by being passed through a transverse openinginthe inner portion of the spindle and bent over,

while the opposite or outer end of the wire at the end of the outerseries ot coils j is'passed through and secured to the lugs Z', whichproject inwardly from the cap-piece c.

m is a tapering sleeve surrounding the outer portion of the spindlewithin the chamber, and is herein shown as being cast integral with thecap-piece c', but may be made separate therefrom, if desired. Thissleeve extends inwardly beyond and within the outer end of the innercoil 7L', and is at the inner end scarcely larger than the coil, whilethe outer end, which is between the lugs Z and the spindle, is of adimension to nearly fill the outer coilj, so that when the roller 1srevolved for unwinding the shade therefrom and the coils of the springare wound tightly upon each other the ends of the outer serres j and theintermediate series z of the coils are supported bythe sleeve in amanner that prevents any abrupt bending or breaking down of the wire,which, on account of the wire being secured to the outer portion of ornear the walls of the chamber, is liable to take place when the coilsare drawn closely upon each other without a central support. It will beobserved that the taper of the sleeve avoids any shoulder or abruptsurface beneath the coils, so that the intermediate end coils aresupported in any position which they may naturally assume, so that theouter coil overlapping the inner cannot interlock therewith and bind orcatch, by which means a free and easy action of the springis obtained,even though the coils are wound to their utmost tension.

For use the required tension is placed in the actuating-spring and theroller-journal d is placed in the slot c above the lifting-spring f, andthe journal f is then placed in the bracket b and provided againstrevolution in any suitable manner, and the actuatingspring thenoperating to revolve the roller brings the lug c into engagementwith thelug or clutch g, and securely retains the roller against revolution; butby drawing downward upon the shade the roller revolves backward1 oragainst the tension of the actuatingspring, and disengages the lug cfrom the clutch g, and the journal b then moves to the lower portion ofthe slot c, and the shade may then be wound upon the roller by slightlyrelaxing the power exerted downwardly thereon, retaining, however,sufficient downward force to retain the roller-journal in the lowerportion of the slot e, which leaves the roller free to revolve and windthe shade thereon until the desired position for the shade is reached,and then the downward force is entirely released and the lifting-springj at once raises the roller-journal to the upper portion of the slot e,and the lug c is then caught by the clutch portion g, and the shaderemains securely held in that position.

lt is very evident that on releasing the shade from the downward forceexerted thereon one of the lugs c will be thrown into engagement withthe clutch g--that is, the lug IIO on passing the upper portion of therevolution around the journal reaches over and is caught by the curvedupper side h of the inwardlyprojecting clutch g--so that the curvatureof the side h While arresting the rotary movement of the roller at thesame time operates to retain the roller-journal in the upper portion ofthe slot until the roller is revolved backwardly or against the tensionof the actuating spring by drawing downwardly upon the shade, and ofcourse it will be seen that by this means the tendency common with thisclass of iiXtures to jar as the engagement takes place and recoil thelifting-spring, and thereby permit the lugs to pass beneath the lockingdevice, is entirely .avoided and the liability of the roller to wind upmore of the shade than is desired is entirely obviated, as on the shadebeing released the locking parts at once engage in such a manner that norecoil of the liftingspring can take place.

I have described the upper face 71, of the clutching device g as beingof a curved form, so as to come in front of the moving-lug c and alsobeneath the lug; butI do not confine my invention entirely to a curvedform, which may, perhaps, be more convenient and sure, still anotherform, whichis illustrated in Fig. 5, and which shows the upper surfaceof the clutch g as nearly or quite straight and with its rear portionmore elevated than its front portion, could be used with a like effectand result, so long as the locking device is so arranged as to arrestthe rotary movement of the roller and permit the downward recoil of thelifting-spring, as before set forth.

What I claim as my invention, and

desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a shade-roller tixture, the combination of the shade-roller havingan inclosed actuating-spring and provided with a rollerjournalprojecting from the center of one end, and with the lugs c projectingfrom the end and located near the periphery of the roller, asupporting-bracket having the vertical slot e, carrying theroller-journal, and a lifting-spring f beneath the journal, and providedWith a clutch portion g, projecting inwardly from the portion of thebracket above the said slot e and engaging with the under side of theupper lug c when the roller-journal is resting in the upper portion ofthe slot, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a shade-roller fixture, the combination, with the roller having inone end a longitudinal chamber e', a cap-piece c', secured to andcovering the end of the roller and provided with the lugs Z', projectinginto the chamber, a spindle d within the chamber and with its end passedthrough the cap-piece, and the spring g', surrounding the spindle Withinthe chamber and with one end secured to the inner end ofthe spindle andwith its outer end secured to the` said lugs Z ,of a tapering sleeve m',surrounding the outer por tion of the spindle within the chamber, andwith its inner tapering surface beneath the outer and intermediateseries of coils of the spring, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY W. SIMMS. Witnesses:

G. P. THOMAS, J As. E. THOMAS.

